Top Five: GSK Approaches Goodness with Boldness

Hot off the presses! GSK just issued its 2012 Corporate Responsibility (CR) report. If you don't have time to devour all 75 pages, then allow me to quickly share my top five favorite achievements:

5) Pipeline

The most significant contribution GSK can make to improving health is through scientific innovation--researching and developing new treatments, vaccines, and consumer healthcare products. To that end, our R&D made significant progress in 2012 with six new products now under regulatory review. Over the next three years, GSK has the potential to bring 15 new medicines and vaccines to patients. And we have doubled funding for our independent research into diseases of the developing world. (Read more on page 14.)

4) Leading the Industry in Access

I am particularly proud of GSK's commitment to ensuring patients around the world have access to our medicines. In 2012, GSK topped the Access to Medicines Index (ATMI) for the third time. This ranking by the Access to Medicines Foundation examines how much the top 20 pharmaceutical companies are doing to improve access to medicines in the developing world. GSK ranked highest overall and achieved the highest score in four of the seven categories--access management, research and development, capacity advancement, and philanthropy, and were in the top three in all categories. (Read more on page 18.)

3) Unprecedented Transparency in our Clinical Trials Data

GSK made several significant commitments in 2012 to improve transparency around our clinical trials data. Specifically, we committed to provide access to detailed, patient-level data from clinical trials of our approved medicines or medicines that are no longer in development. The data are anonomyized so we are safeguarding patient confidentiality.We believe this is a significant step towards helping advance scientific understanding and informing medical judgment. Already, nearly 11,000 visitors a month are accessing and leveraging the data. Also, GSK became the first pharmaceutical company to sign up to the AllTrials campaign for clinical trial transparency. (Read more on pages 33 and 41.)

2) Making Progress on our Commitments to our Planet

Environmental sustainability is a priority for GSK. We rely on precious natural resources to produce our medicines and products. And these resources are becoming scarcer and more expensive as global demand increases. Our stakeholders expect us to manage our environmental use and impacts responsibly. In 2012, GSK reduced water consumption in our own operations by 14% and cut total waste by 9%. Unfortunately, our total carbon footprint has increased by 7% from 2010, and this was driven by the carbon emissions from higher inhaler sales. In 2012, we launched a first-of-its kind respiratory inhaler recycling program in the UK, US, and Chile. (Read more starting on page 63.)

GSK also achieved global certification to the Carbon Trust Standard, which certifies that, across the company, we are making year-on-year overall reductions in emissions associated with operations and transport for the time period. We're the only multinational to have achieved this standard to date. (Read more on page 65.)

1)  Donated $330 Million in Products and Funds

GSK donated $330 million in products and funds in 2012 to advance the health and well-being of communities around the world. If you break that down, it's equal to more than $6 million a week.

·         Donated nearly $208 million worth of medicines (at cost)

·         Donated nearly $121 million in funds

GSK's donations are reinforced through our employee volunteer PULSE program. In 2012, PULSE supported 91 GSK employees from 22 countries as they contributed their time and talents in full-time, 3-6 month skill-based assignments at 51 nonprofit organizations throughout 26 countries. (Read more on page 54.)

I was pleased to learn that almost half of GSK's total giving helped uninsured or under-insured  Americans get the medicines they need through our U.S. through our Patient Assistance Programs (GSK supported more than 356,000 low-income patients in the U.S. in 2012). (Read more on page 20 and 27.) 

While these might be my top five favorite GSK achievements in 2012, you will find several more noteworthy accomplishments along with 23 forward-looking commitments in the full report. So, please don't stop here! Read the full report now and let me know your top five!

About GlaxoSmithKline: One of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, GSK is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer.  For further information go to us.gsk.com, follow us on twitter.com/GSKUS or visit our blog: www.morethanmedicine.us.gsk.com/blog/.